IDOC Adds Agency Policies to its Website

A critical step forward in increasing transparency: After countless requests by JHA, IDOC made its agency policies publicly available on its website in February 2022

For the last 120 years, JHA has been acting as the eyes and ears of the public inside Illinois prisons. We believe deeply in the humanity of every person, including those in prison, and that EVERYONE should be treated with dignity and respect. We also believe strongly in system transparency and the need for all stakeholders and citizens to hold government actors accountable - particularly when they are responsible for the treatment and care of other human beings. 

To this end, JHA has been asking IDOC to make its agency policies publicly available for many years. It is a request we have made over and over, year after year. It is this kind of ongoing, targeted advocacy that underlies JHA’s work.

We are pleased to see that there is now a place on IDOC's website to house administrative directives, with 299 currently available (as of February 2022). 

While some often requested policies remain unavailable to the public here (and it may be the case that they are under revision), such as the restrictive housing directive, this is at least a promising start to IDOC making this critical information more easily publicly available.

As we strive for a rehabilitative, restorative system where resources are better directed to underlying front end issues that lead people to prison in the first place, we will continue to do whatever we can to fight unfair policies and practices inside our prisons and for better treatment and conditions for people who are incarcerated. 

Having IDOC policies available to the public is an important piece of this work. For years JHA has responded to letters from people in prison asking about the very policies that govern their day-to-day lives to which they do not have access. When a state agency’s response to an issue is that it is following a policy, the first question is always “what is the policy?” Without this information, it is more difficult to get clarity on what is supposed to happen, what is actually happening, and what must change. For this reason, JHA is pleased to see IDOC directives made available publicly, and we hope to see many more added to their webpage soon.